History of Saint-Petersburg: The exhibition “Dedicated to the City of Courage and Glory”

The State Museum of Urban Sculpture (St. Petersburg) hosts the exhibition "Dedication to the City of Courage and Glory". 

The exhibition, which opened in the year of the 70th anniversary of the Victory, illustrates the difficult period of the life of the besieged Leningrad, which was part of the activities of specialists of the Museum of Urban Sculpture. Visitors will see archival documents, photographs, graphic works and sculptures from the museum, made during the war.

The professional duty and work of museum is revealed on the example of the first curator of the museum Necropolis – N. V. Uspensky (1885-1947). During the siege, he took refuge in the land of marble sculpture, bronze busts, building defenses. By his efforts from the inevitable destruction of the memorial were rescued masterpieces of sculpture, valuable historical monuments and sculptures. In 1942 N. V. Uspensky organized the free access of citizens, soldiers, militiamen at the tomb of A. V. Suvorov in the crypt of the Annunciation, which was implemented specially designed project of decorative tombstones of the great commander.    

3D-media installation, which is the basis for the layout of the Order of Suvorov, approved in 1942, Suvorov quotes from the book "The Science of Winning", victory banners recreate the atmosphere of 1942, is a special celebration of Victory and Glory of undefeated city. The exhibition first exhibits sheets decoration of graves from the collections of the Museum: the signature sheet with the image of the tomb of Alexander Nevsky and the exact date - 10.28.1942 and the signature of the artist A. A. Leporskaya. For the first time after the restoration is presented an engraved portrait of A. V. Suvorov (A. A. Florov, 1812).  

One of the sections of the exhibition is devoted to the history of the defense campaign of sculptural posters, which were seen as an important contribution to the defense of the city and a powerful means of patriotic propaganda. Their creation - an amazing, legendary page in the art of the siege of Leningrad, known only from photographs and documents. 

The Museum first exhibits photos approved for execution of reliefs, accompanying unique documents on the participation of the authors in their establishment, and the conditions in which work is performed.